The John Stephenson Car Company was an American manufacturer of

carriage A carriage is a two- or four-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle for passengers. In Europe they were a common mode of transport for the wealthy during the Roman Empire, and then again from around 1600 until they were replaced by the motor car around 1 ...

horsecar A horsecar, horse-drawn tram, horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical), is a tram or streetcar pulled by a horse. Summary The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public transport, public rail transport, ...

cable car Cable car most commonly refers to the following cable transportation systems: * Aerial lift, such as aerial tramways and gondola lifts, in which the vehicle is suspended in the air from a cable ** Aerial tramway ** Chairlift ** Gondola lift *** ...

s, and

streetcar A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include s ...

s, based in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. It was founded by John Stephenson in 1831. Middleton, William D. (1967). ''The Time of the Trolley'', p. 424. Milwaukee:

Kalmbach Publishing Kalmbach Media (formerly Kalmbach Publishing Co.) was an American publisher of books and magazines, many of them railroad-related, located in Waukesha, Wisconsin. History The company's first publication was ''The Model Railroader'', which be ...

. . John Stephenson invented the first streetcar to run on rails, building this in 1832, for the

New York and Harlem Railroad The New York and Harlem Railroad (now the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem Line) was one of the first railroads in the United States, and was the world's first street railway. Designed by John Stephenson, it was opened in stages between 1832 and ...

. A reorganization in 1867 included shortening of the company's name to the John Stephenson Company. In the latter part of the 19th century, the company was a major builder of streetcars, constructing some 25,000 cars in the period 1876–1891 alone, including ones for export. Its customers included many systems, in the US and other countries. Among the foreign ones were the

Toronto Street Railways The Toronto Street Railway (TSR) was the operator of a horse-drawn streetcar system from 1861 to 1891 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its successor, the Toronto Railway Company, inherited the horsecar system and electrified it between 1892 and 1894 ...

Montreal Street Railway Company Prior to 1959, Montreal, Quebec, Canada had an extensive tram, streetcar system. The streetcar network had its beginnings with the horsecar era of the Montreal City Passenger Railway in 1861. The initial line was along Rue Notre-Dame, Rue Notre ...

, the Halifax Street Railway,

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

's ''

Empresa de los Ferrocarriles del Distrito Federal Mexico City once had an extensive network of streetcars. Most streetcar lines in Mexico City radiated from the city's central square, the Zócalo towards many parts of the city. By the 1980s only one streetcar line survived, which itself was con ...

'',

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

’s CCFL (Carris), and

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

' ''Tranvía Caracas ''and ''Tranvía Bolívar.'' John Stepehnson Co advert 1903

Stephenson's factory was located in

Elizabeth, New Jersey Elizabeth is a City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' reported. The company was acquired by the J.G. Brill Company in 1904 and continued to operate under the Stephenson name until 1917, when the plant was sold to the

Standard Aero Corporation The Standard Aircraft Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer, founded in Plainfield, New Jersey, in 1916 Standard Aircraft anticipated American entry into World War I, despite an expressed policy of isolationism. The same year it was f ...

for production of airplanes,''The New York Times'', August 27, 1917. and the corporation was liquidated in 1919.

References

External links

John Stephenson Company history
by the

Mid-Continent Railway Museum The Mid-Continent Railway Museum is a railway museum, railroad museum in North Freedom, Wisconsin, North Freedom, Wisconsin, United States. The museum consists of static displays as well as a round trip ride aboard preserved railroad cars. Hi ...

John Stephenson Company Streetcars
at the

Museum of the City of New York The Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) is a history and art museum in Manhattan, New York City, New York. It was founded by Henry Collins Brown, in 1923Beard, Rick. "Museum of the City of New York" in to preserve and present the history ...

's Collections blog Companies based in Elizabeth, New Jersey Horsecar manufacturers Defunct rolling stock manufacturers of the United States Manufacturing companies established in 1831 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1917 American companies established in 1831 1831 establishments in New York (state) 1917 disestablishments in New Jersey 1904 mergers and acquisitions Electric vehicle manufacturers of the United States Defunct manufacturing companies based in New York City J. G. Brill Company {{US-rail-company-stub

See also

References

External links